


Misunderstandings

by sperrywink



Series: DIY [2]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Losers (2010)
Genre: Angst, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-05
Updated: 2019-08-05
Packaged: 2020-08-09 18:33:58
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,944
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20122963
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sperrywink/pseuds/sperrywink
Summary: After everything he's been through, Bucky believes in consent. Unfortunately mistakes happen.





	Misunderstandings

**Author's Note:**

> Just a little follow-up I had to my MCU/Losers/NCIS crossover story.

It happened fast. Bucky rounded the corner on his way to Tony’s lab as requested, and saw the two men tussling. Steve was saying, “No, no, no,” but the other man wasn’t listening to him; was in fact backing Steve against the wall and trapping him there. Bucky saw red.

He ran down the hallway, saw Steve’s eyes widen in shock, didn’t wonder why shock was only appearing now, and tore the other man away from Steve. The other man must have had a clue, because as he turned, one arm was coming up with a gun. Unfortunately for him, Bucky was in close quarters, so he blocked the gun with his fist accompanied by a snapping sound, and then wrapped his metal hand around the guy’s throat and slammed him against the wall, denting the drywall. He got a good grip on the wrist of the hand with the gun, and slammed that into the wall next. 

The guy turned to Steve and said, “Run!”

Bucky would have laughed if he wasn’t so furious. If he knew Steve, he’d know the last thing he would ever do was run. But it was enough of a reminder for Bucky to also turn to Steve to make sure he was all right. That’s when he blinked in confusion. Steve’s hair was shorter and spikier, he had a goatee, and glasses. He looked like Steve, but… not.

Not-Steve was saying, “Okay, okay, everyone should just calm down.”

The other guy said, “Run, goddamn it!” He was struggling against Bucky’s grip, but Bucky knew he wasn’t going anywhere. The metal arm had a grip like a vice. He tightened his grip anyway.

Not-Steve ignored him, as was Bucky. Not-Steve looked right at Bucky, and said, “Okay buddy, how about you let Cougs go?”

Afraid he already knew the answer, Bucky asked, “Steve?”

“See, it’s just a little misunderstanding. I’m not Steve, and I’d really appreciate it if you let my husband go.”

Confused, Bucky said, “You were saying no.”

The other guy gasped out, “Damn it, just run!”

Bucky turned back to him, and tightening his grip again, grated out, “He was saying no.”

Not-Steve put his hand on the metal arm, and said, “Just a little horsing around with lunch.” He waved a hand to the mess on the floor behind him. “I promise, Cougs would never hurt me.”

Bucky looked at the fallen bag with what looked like soup and spaghetti spilling out across the floor, and then back at Not-Steve, before turning back to the guy Not-Steve was calling Cougs. He couldn’t wrap his head around what was going on now, but he knew one thing. “He was saying no.”

Just then Tony came running down the crosswise hallway with Bruce right behind him. Tony was saying, “Whoa, whoa, whoa!”

Not-Steve, sounding relieved, said, “Get him to let Cougar go, Tony, or I swear to god I’ll quit.”

Tony was already speaking, “Okay, how about you let the nice man go, and we’ll give you nifty new arm upgrades? How’s that sound? Sounds like a great idea to me. Let him go, Bucky-bear and we’ll even through in some cookies.”

Bucky looked at the gun in Cougar’s hand. The safety was off. He didn’t know what was going on, but he didn’t like how quickly Cougar had armed himself. There was only a fraction of a second between when Bucky saw them, and when he had the guy on the ropes. He turned back to Tony, pleading. “He was saying no.”

Tony replied, “I know, Elsa, but it’s all a big clusterfuck of a misunderstanding, so if you let him go, we can get it all resolved.” Bucky turned back to Cougar, and searched his face. Cougar was glaring murder back at him even as he was gasping for breath. Bucky didn’t know much, but he knew this wasn’t a nice man, and the second he let go, the guy would be all over him.

Finally, actual Steve came barreling out of the elevators, and Bucky slumped his shoulders in relief. If Steve was all right, then Bucky’s mind could figure out what was going on. Steve came to stand beside Not-Steve, and Bucky could see how they could be brothers. Not-Steve was a little shorter, a little less build, and looked a little older, but they could easily be mistaken for each other. Steve held up placating hands, and said, “Bucky.”

Feeling like a broken record, Bucky pleaded with Steve. “He was saying no.” If there was one thing he had learned as he came out of his programming, it was the importance of the word ‘no’ and having consent. Believing in these concepts was the only way he could accept that he wasn’t fully responsible for The Asset’s actions.

“I know, Buck, but you just misunderstood what was going on,” Steve said.

Tony said, “I have an idea. Jarvis, play back from when Cougar left the elevators.”

Then Tony slammed a tablet on the wall next to where he had Cougar’s hand pressed so that Bucky could see it. Bucky watched as Cougar left the elevators, and met up with Not-Steve with a blinding smile. They kissed, and then Not-Steve said, “Is that my lunch?”

Handing over the bag, Cougar said, “Only if you share.”

Laughing and backing up, putting the bag behind his hip, Not-Steve began chanting, “Not sharing, no, no, no.”

Cougar began stalking Not-Steve towards the wall, and said, “I bet I can convince you.”

Not-Steve said, “I can resist, I can.” Cougar made a fake grab for the bag, and Not-Steve, said, “No, no, no!”

That’s when video Bucky showed up in the corner of the frame. The next couple of seconds were just a blur of movement, and then the tableau resolved to where they were now with Bucky holding Cougar against the wall.

Steve put his hand on Bucky’s natural arm, squeezing his wrist slightly. “See Buck? Just a misunderstanding. They were just messing around. Please let him go.”

Bucky looked back at Cougar, searching his face for the smiling man from the video. He could see it now. Cougar actually looked a bit embarrassed about the video. Angry and embarrassed.

Bucky let his grip loosen a bit, and Cougar gasped in a breath. Steve said, “That’s it, Bucky, let him go now.”

Finally understanding how badly he was in the wrong, Bucky let Cougar go, took a step back, and braced himself for an attack. Before Cougar could do more than get his feet under him, Not-Steve was between them, preventing Cougar from doing anything. As Not-Steve wrapped his arms around Cougar, Cougar glared murder at Bucky over his shoulder for a second, before turning his face into Not-Steve’s shoulder and holding him tight.

Not-Steve held Cougar at arms’ length, and said, “Jesus, your throat.” There were already finger-shaped bruises blooming around it.

In a rough voice, Cougar said, “I’m more concerned about my wrist.” 

He held up the hand with the gun, which Not-Steve took from him casually and familiarly, putting the safety on, as Bruce pushed between them, and said, “Let me see.”

As Bucky took another step back, Steve grabbed his arm, and said, “Come on, Buck, let’s give them some space.”

They all ended up inside Tony’s lab, with Bruce doing a scan on Cougar's wrist, and fussing over his bruises. Not-Steve hovered anxiously over them, while Tony was arguing with Jarvis in the middle of the room. Bucky and Steve watched everyone from the far corner, out of the way, and out of sight of Cougar. 

Softly Bucky said, “I thought you were getting attacked. You look alike.”

Watching Not-Steve and Tony in the center of the room, Steve said, “Yeah. It’s kind of spooky.” Then Steve waved Tony over to them.

Tony came over, already talking, as usual. He was saying, “Well, this wasn’t how I envisioned you guys meeting, _at all_, but how do you like my security consultant?”

Bucky asked, “Cougar?” He still wasn’t sure if that was the guy’s name or a nickname, but he figured someone who could arm themselves microseconds before being attacked was good enough to be a security consultant for Tony. The guy might have even won the fight if Bucky wasn’t a supersoldier with a metal arm.

“Cougar? No, I mean Jensen.” He waved towards Not-Steve. Bucky raised his eyebrows. Not-Steve or Jensen was muscular, but he didn’t seem to have the skills necessary to be a security consultant.

Steve said, “Speaking of Jensen, he looks an awful lot like me. What do you know about him?”

Tony turned to look at Jensen, and tilted his head as he looked him over. With a considering tone he said, “He does look like you, now that you mention it. I never noticed, huh.”

Before he could go off on a tangent, Steve said, “Tony,” to remind him of the question.

“I hired Jensen about four years ago after he and his team took down some CIA superspy named Max.”

With surprise in his voice, Steve said, “That was him?” Bucky had no idea what they were talking about.

“Yeah, he was their tech extraordinaire.”

Steve asked, “Do you know anything else about him?”

“If you’re thinking he’s a plant, I did a full background check on him when I hired him. It all checked out. I could do an ancestry search, though. See if you guys have the same great-great-great-grandmother, or whatever. Jarvis, get on that. Anyway, he’s a good guy, I swear.”

Steve hummed, but kept his eye on Jensen. Bucky watched him too, but he wasn’t checking the resemblance to Steve at the moment. He was watching how Jensen and Cougar interacted. He could now see the love and affection that radiated from the two of them. It was humbling, and made something in Bucky’s chest hurt. Remembering something Jensen had said during their confrontation, Bucky turned to Tony, and said, “They’re husbands?”

“What? Oh, yeah. Got married last year in a civil ceremony. Pepper and I went.”

“They can marry each other?”

Tony turned towards Bucky fully, and said, “Oh, I forgot you were a frozen margarita off and on for the last seventy years. Yeah, gay marriage is legal in a lot of states now. New York is one of them.”

Tony was looking closely at him, but Bucky didn’t know what he expected. Bucky just said, “Huh.” 

Steve said, “I was going to tell you, but we aren’t up to that part of our history lessons yet.”

Bucky just nodded, and kept his eyes on the pair across the room. Jensen was rubbing tiny circles on Cougar’s back, as Bruce pointed to something on a holographic screen. None of them looked happy, and Bucky suspected the wrist was broken. He felt bad.

Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Steve and Tony exchanging looks. He turned toward them again, and raised his eyebrows. Tony said, “Steve indicates it’s fine, but I just want to make sure this wasn’t a hate crime?”

Confused by Tony’s concern, Bucky explained, “I thought it was Steve saying no, and Cougar trying to force him.”

“But you have no issue with two guys, right? Because that might make things _more_ awkward, since I had picked Jensen to help with programming the arm upgrades.”

Bucky turned back to watch Jensen and Cougar. Cougar’s head was leaning on Jensen’s shoulder as Bruce put a splint on his wrist. He didn’t know what he felt watching the two of them, but it wasn’t disgust. He had never been bothered by guys with guys or gals with gals, but he did feel something watching the pair. Longing, maybe. “No. I have no issues.”

Bruce finished with the splint and came over to their group, removing his gloves. “Well, the wrist is broken. I splinted it, but they’re headed to a real hospital for the cast. Cougar says he’ll need a doctor’s note for work.”

Tony said, “I forgot he’s a federal agent. Hopefully he can still work,” raising his voice at the end as Jensen and Cougar also joined the group. Bucky hunched his shoulders, and ducked his head. He knew apologies would not be enough.

Jensen said, “Desk duty only, but he’ll survive, as I keep telling him.”

Cougar glared at the floor.

“Well, this isn’t how I wanted introductions to go, but does everyone know who everyone is now? Bucky-brute, I was going to have Jensen work on the programming for your new arm,” Tony said.

Steve said, “You said that already.”

Jensen looked over at Cougar, and said, “Well, I’m not sure that’s the best idea.”

Even though he knew it wasn’t enough, Bucky offered, “I’m sorry. I thought…, well, what I thought doesn’t matter.”

Cougar finally looked up from the floor, and met Bucky’s gaze. “You’ll protect him?”

Uncertain, Bucky asked, “What?”

“If anyone comes for him, you’ll continue to protect him?”

“Of course,” Bucky said, confused that Cougar wasn’t more upset about his injuries.

Jensen said, “I don’t need protecting, Cougs, we’ve discussed this.”

“You do if you’ll be working for the Avengers.”

“I don’t have to,” Jensen offered.

Cougar just smiled small. “But you want to.”

Bucky finally got it. What Cougar cared about most was Jensen. He didn’t care what happened to him, as long as Jensen was all right. Since Bucky had _thought_ he was protecting Jensen, Cougar didn’t have any lasting issue with him. Catching Cougar’s look, he said, “I promise. I’ll take care of him.”

Cougar nodded seriously, and said, “Then we’re good.”

Jensen rolled his eyes, and said, “With that, come on, time to go to the emergency room.”

Tony said, “There’s a car waiting downstairs for you.”

They left, and Steve put his arm around Bucky’s shoulder. Bucky leaned into the warmth.

Tony said, “With that settled, how about we look at the specs for the arm.”

* * *

* * *

Bucky wasn’t surprised when Steve tracked him down later to ask, “So how you holding up?”

Still out of sorts because of his actions, he replied, “I wasn’t the one hurt.”

“I know, and I know you feel bad about that.”

Sighing, Bucky slumped further into the couch. “I should feel bad. I broke the guy’s wrist, and he was just bringing lunch to his husband.”

Steve sat down next to him, but leaned forward, clasping his hands together. “He doesn’t blame you. Nobody does.”

“Well maybe they should.”

Shooting a side glance at Bucky, Steve said, “Buck-”

Bucky interrupted him. “No. You can make up excuses all you want, but if I was normal, I would’ve seen that they were just joking around.”

“You are normal.” Bucky could hear the fierce conviction in Steve’s voice. 

He huffed out a bitter laugh. “Right. Normal.”

Steve turned towards him. “One thing I’ve learned is that nowadays there are all kinds of normal. Hell, those two fellas would’ve been considered sick in our time, and now they can get married, and it’s okay. So, yeah, you’ve been through hell, but you’re still normal, and still my best friend.”

Distracted by the reminder, Bucky asked, “When did that happen, anyway? Marriage between two guys, I mean?”

“I’m not sure. Right before I woke up, I think, for New York at any rate.”

“New York is all that matters, buddy.” They exchanged grins.

Bucky let the grin slide off his face, but he was still thinking about it. He said, “Anyway, who would have ever thought that?”

“I know, right? Social change has been the hardest thing to predict. Things we didn’t even think were issues, like gay rights or mental illness, have activists now. It’s a whole new world.” 

“But a good one, I think. You could see how much they loved each other. It’s good that it’s not against the law now. I remember catching Billy from two apartments down stepping out with some guy from the docks. You should’ve seen the terror on his face when he saw me.”

“Billy was gay?”

“You didn’t know?”

Steve said, “No. You never told me.”

“Well, it wasn’t my place, really. It was Billy’s business.”

“You’re a good man, Buck.”

Bucky scoffed. “Yeah, I’m as good as I am normal.”

Steve said, “Bucky,” and as Bucky started to speak, he added, “No wait, and don’t interrupt. Dr. Erskine told me that the serum enhances what’s there. I assume Zola’s acted similarly.”

“So?”

“Don’t you see? After I rescued you, you had my back for years. And then when you were captured, they had to keep you on ice and wiped in order to get you to do what they wanted. You fought every second you could. This tells me you were always a good man, which I knew. You’re just one who’s had some atrocious stuff done to him. Stuff you couldn’t control.”

“But it was still me-”

“Only by chance. Buck, I wouldn’t have been able to resist either. No one could’ve. They were evil, and what was done to you was evil. You wouldn’t care so much now about being good and normal if you weren’t already. I wish I could convince you.”

Looking up at the ceiling so that Steve wouldn’t see his eyes tear up, Bucky replied, “Me too, punk.”

“Jerk.” Steve leaned against his side, and Bucky thankfully closed his eyes and let their weight settle together. He still didn’t really believe Steve. He knew the inside of his mind, and the memories of not caring ate at it, but he wished with all his might that maybe in the future he would.


End file.
